You will need to sign on with your LLLID (La Leche League ID) before you can post. If you have never claimed your LLLID, create your LLLID now. To sign in, click the LLLID Sign On button in the upper right corner. Enter your LLLID Alias and click the button again.

Comfort nursing and supply

A question crossed my mind today: I know that the amount your baby nurses is what tells your body how to regulate production; does that include comfort nursing? Does the baby have to be removing milk from the breast to inform the body about production or is it the act of sucking? Or both?

Re: Comfort nursing and supply

Yes, comfort nursing counts when it comes to regulating supply. Stimulation to the breast helps to increase/maintain milk production even in the absence of milk transfer. In addition, when a baby is nursing for comfort he may also be removing a small amount of milk, without mom really noticing or having a big letdown, so that milk transfer also helps maintain/increase.

Re: Comfort nursing and supply

Thank you mommal for explaining the difference between 'comfort' and 'nutritional' nursing so clearly. I never really got it before. I think, too, that some times when moms talk about 'comfort nursing' they are referring to any time at the breast that does not follow whatever feeding pattern they have been taught to expect. So, if a baby nurses 'too long' or 'too often' it is referred to as comfort nursing, when actually baby is certainly extracting milk & actually needs to nurse that much in order to get enough & maintain moms supply-this is one problem with the 'nurse every such and such hours' advice so many moms hear, it leads to these expectations that then worry mom when baby has his or her own ideas about nursing!

I often found 'true' comfort nursing-as you describe it-as a lovely and peaceful time to connect with and just admire my sweet, often sleepy or asleep nursing baby. Not ALL the time, there were definitely the times I thought "oh please get done I have things to do!" But I think that enjoying that comfort nursing time is something that so often gets lost when we look at nursing as ONLY a feeding method.